Lauren Nicolella
Staff Writer
This November, I will be running my third half-marathon thanks to Students Run Philly Style.
Running long distances has become such a large part of my life, and I am not shy when it comes to talking about the program and my experiences. The practices take up a lot of time, I dedicate four days a week to making my body stronger and getting my mindset in the right place.
I joined Students Run in seventh grade, and I was even more awkward than I am now. I constantly reflect on that year, thinking of how my coaches flooded me with compliments of how much I had improved in my first full season of running.
I had my doubts, but I had a whole team by my side and they helped clear those troubles up. My coaches and the other students on that team are some of the most important people involved in my life, and I am forever grateful.
But of course in all good things, there is a downside to them. I genuinely enjoy to run, but after a full busy day of school I do not feel motivated at all to get my shoes on and head out with the team. I have been trying to push myself to become more positive when I reach situations like that.
October was an especially difficult month, being the month that all of the teachers decided to give four benchmarks at once. I started to worry about how I was going to handle them all because I got home so late.
Depending on the milage, the time I would get home varied. If it was a simple three miles, I would get home before the sun went down. Six miles? Forget it. I was already so tired and worn out, I didn’t want to push my body further to do something I already wasn’t looking forward to doing all day.
When I come across these negative situations during or after practice, I try to stand back for a moment and reflect on all of the good things I have done. I appreciate all of the people I have met through Students Run, and all of the older students who are so willing to cheer and motivate me to make myself do things that I never thought would have been possible.
If you decide to join Students Run, you better be dedicated and ready to go because it really is not a joke. For me, nine months of training will finally pay off on November 19th.
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